The Life of a Newborn
by Heart of Noir
Summary: Haylee Stephens was vacationing with her best friend. They only wanted one last adventure before going their separate ways for college. Everything changed in Port Angeles. A madman's sick games left Haylee as a newborn and her best friend in danger... from her. Running from their fears they find themselves at the mercy of the Cullens and the pack. *Note: I do not own Twilight!
1. Chapter 1

My feet moved faster as I heard something approaching. I was running through the forest, where I was exactly, I had no clue. I could sense whatever the thing was getting closer. I pushed myself harder, clutching on to the human in my arms. I chanced a look behind me, wolves. Massive, sprinting wolves, and they were coming for us. The one closest to me was a dark gray colored one, it was about 30 feet away, but it was moving fast, snarling as it came closer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the black one, the biggest of them all, throw its head back. It opened its jaw and let out the most deafening, hair-raising howl I had ever heard. I leaped over a fallen tree, shooting forward, gaining a little more distance from the wolves.

I looked ahead, attempting to find an escape route, but what I saw made my dead heart seize. There were more massive figures approaching from the front, no doubt the rest of the wolf pack. They must have heard the howl.

"Shit." I said. We were screwed. There was no way I could outrun them all; there must have been fifteen, at least. To add to my situation, I had no idea how to fight them. I thought fast, how the hell could I get away? I looked all around, running in a zigzag trying to make the beasts lose their footing. I was desperately trying to gain a few extra seconds.

I zagged at the last possible second, changing my course when I was inches from hitting a huge tree. The black wolf that had been closely trailing me hit it with its shoulder, unable to move the direction of its path quick enough.

' _Ouch._ ' I thought. I looked up, some of the trees must have been 50 feet in height and were built pretty sturdily. Trees… Something pinged in the back of my mind at the word.

The trees, of course!

"Hold on." I said to the girl I was carrying, feeling her arms cling tighter around my neck. I sped up my sprint, flinging dirt behind me as my feet pushed off the forest floor.

I felt rather than heard their paws hitting the ground; they were even closer. With another glance backwards I could see a russet colored wolf break away from the others, I hissed at the mutt and it growled in response. Looking forward I picked one of the biggest trees. It was now or never. The wolf's teeth snapped and I felt its warm breath across the nape of my neck as it lunged, mouth open.

Milliseconds before it sunk its teeth into me, I sprung off the ground and catapulted into the air, latching onto a tree and climbing as fast as I could without dropping my precious cargo.

The wolves growled and barked at the base of the tree, unable to jump high enough to reach me. Howls filled the air.

"Holy shit, they're fucking huge wolves!" The human girl said, bringing her head up from my chest and opening her eyes.

"I wonder how the hell they got so big." I said in return. "We're lucky, they almost got us."

The girl shivered. "Well I'm glad you're some sort of super-freak now. Or else I'm sure they would have."

I nodded my head in agreement. Accidentally taking a deep breath to calm myself. Big mistake, I stiffened as the scent of her blood filled my nose. My throat burned and I could _feel_ how close her warm blood was.

I was holding her close to my chest, and the way she had her neck craned to look down at the scene below us gave me a perfect look at her jugular. I could actually see the blood pumping through it. Her heart rate accelerating as one of the wolves snarled loudly at us.

Yes, the smell of the blood was appealing, but thinking about drinking someone's blood was disgusting. I knew that the burning in my throat would probably go away if I drained all the blood of the human in front of me. Blood seemed to be what caused the pain to flare in the first place, but the thought of literally drinking someone's blood was off-putting and made me feel nauseous. Blood had always freaked me out, even as a human I couldn't stand how it smelled. Not that I had spent much time as a vampire.

Suddenly my ears picked up on another sound, something else moving towards us at a high rate of speed. I blinked, breaking out of my trance. Listening closer I heard it was multiple animals, but it didn't sound the same as the wolves' running. Feet. That's what the sound was.

 _Oh God,_ I thought, _He found us and this time he wasn't alone_. I braced myself readying for a fight as the figures came into view. However what I saw was not what I expected, seven of the most beautiful people I had ever seen came running towards us at an inhuman speed. My fear was instantly overcome by feelings of wonder when a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on them.

They sparkled like they were made of diamonds.

' _Just like_ _ **him**_ _.'_ I thought. If my heart was still beating I would be going into cardiac arrest. ' _Fuck, fuck, shit, goddamnit. Other shiny people. And there was no way I could escape this time. But wait, did they look… afraid? Of me? This was gonna be interesting.'_

Suddenly I heard a growl and my thoughts turned to panic. ' _Oh God, the wolves. They're running to their deaths.'_


	2. Chapter 2

The group slowed as they drew nearer to the wolves.

"Look out, for the wolves down there!" I shouted down. The group's attention on me barely shifted to glance at the wolves. Apparently they didn't consider them a threat. _'They're wrong and they're going right towards their death. I have to warn them.'_ I continued to yell, urgent this time. "Don't go near them, I'll be fine up here. Just get out of here, they tried to rip my head off and I'm sure they'll go after you next!"

"It's true," my mortal companion said with fear. "They're fast too, they almost caught us."

Apparently these people couldn't hear us or were ready to die today because they didn't heed our warnings at all. They stopped at the base of the tree I was currently residing in, surrounded by the wolves. I waited for the bloodshed but was surprised when one of them stepped forward, speaking to us.

"They won't harm us. We have an understanding with them." Said what I assumed to be the leader of the group. He had pale skin and blonde hair, with well-defined aristocratic features that women swooned over and men envied; but what I was most awed by were his eyes. They were a beautiful gold color; looking at the other members of his group, I saw their eyes were similar in color.

"You speak to animals?" I asked.

' _Un-freakin'-believable.'_ I thought to myself _. 'You try to do someone a favor by warning them and think you're saved but the people turn out to be absolute lunatics who believe they can talk to dogs. Great.'_

One of the vampires snorted. I looked at him. He had bronze hair and delicate boy-like features. I would guess he was around 18 or so.

Still smirking at me he said, "Carlisle isn't insane, he's telling the truth. They're shape-shifters and we have a treaty for this land here. They protect humans, and since you're carrying your next meal through our land they have the right to kill you and try to save her."

 _Next meal? What? I didn't—oh wait_. "You thought I was going to eat her!?" I yelled. "God, gross. That's so wrong."

"What?!" My supposed-to-be meal yelled. "She was trying to save me. Jesus what is wrong with you?" She asked the wolves in question. "Don't you ask questions before you kill people?"

The vampires were all staring at us now with mixed looks of disbelief and shock. The wolves growled.

' _Okeydokey, obviously they still want to murder me.'_

"She's telling the truth Carlisle." The bronze-haired boy said with a look of shock on his face. "Both of them are."

"It's true I can feel the honesty radiating off both of them." Said another vampire, this one with lighter hair and many scars covering his body. Wait, were those bite marks? Yikes.

"If you aren't going to kill her, what were you going to do?" Asked the leader.

"I was trying to get us away from this other guy. He's like you but he's absolutely insane."

"You mean there's another vampire in the area?" The man asked. All the wolves growled.

' _Vampire? Oh my god this can't be real life. I've gone insane. There's no such thing as vampires…right? Ohmygod. Does that mean I'm a vampire?'_

"Yes we are vampires, and you are too. And we're still waiting for you to answer our question.

I pulled myself together. Being a vampire wasn't the end of the world, right? "I'm not sure. I was just running to get away from him. The, uh, other vampire. He was following at first but I think I lost him at some point. I just didn't want to stop in case he was still trying to find us."

"We can do a perimeter check, Carlisle." Said a different vampire. The guy was huge, with muscles on muscles and short cropped hair.

' _He looks like he could kick some serious ass.'_

"Sam says none of the pack picked up any other scents." The bronze-haired god said. He directed his attention to me. "Why don't you come down from there? We won't hurt you."

I looked at the wolves. "What about them? I'm not jumping down if they're going to try to rip me apart. They could kill her." I said, jerking my head towards the human I had clutched to me.

"You're protecting her?" Asked the blond leader. I gave him a funny look, hadn't we already gone over this?

"Well yeah, she's my best friend."


	3. Chapter 3

"Your best friend is a human? How is that possible? You're a newborn are you not?" Said the blond vampire.

' _What's a newborn?'_ I thought to myself. I couldn't understand half of what these people were talking about.

The bronze-haired boy interjected again. "A newborn is a vampire that has recently been turned. You're considered a newborn during the entire first year of your vampirism."

I didn't realize I had spoken aloud. I wondered if Tourette's syndrome was a part of becoming a vampire. "Uh, yeah. Then I guess I am a newborn. Why are you so surprised?"

Their leader spoke up once more. "Newborns are unable to control their thirst. The fact that you have a human so close to you and you haven't killed her is remarkable. Do you mind me asking how often you feed? It must be quite frequent for you to keep yourself controlled around her." The wolves growled.

Before I could form a response, the other vampire spoke to me. "By the way you aren't talking out loud. I can read your thoughts. Vampires sometimes have gifts. Mine is the ability to read minds, Jasper can feel and influence emotions, and Alice can see the future. I'm Edward and this is my father Carlisle and mother Esme as well as my sister Rosalie and my brother Emmett. Are you aware of any gifts?"

I memorized each vampire's name before answering Carlisle's previous question. "Feed? Like drink blood?"

"Yes," he responded. "How often do you feed per day? I must say that your control is quite astounding. I'm curious as to how often you have to feed to keep yourself in such tight control."

"Um. Never?"

Carlisle blinked. "You don't feed on humans? Do you drink animal blood?" He seemed fascinated.

"Uh, no. I mean I don't drink any blood. I haven't…'fed' as you put it."

Edward spoke, seemingly baffled. "It's true Carlisle. I can see it in her mind. She's revolted by the idea."

"That's incredible." Carlisle said. "Never?" He repeated, unable to wrap his head around the idea.

"Never." I said. "I just hold my breath and focus elsewhere. To be honest the thought of blood makes me a bit nauseous. The smell is good but, uh, yeah the thought of ' _feeding'_ makes me queasy. I'd rather deal with the pain."

"How _are_ you able to stand the pain?" asked Carlisle. "It must be nearly unbearable."

I frowned. "It's annoying, yes, but like I said, focusing on something else helps. It's not intolerable. Besides I don't think I would be able to forgive myself if I killed someone innocent."

"She must be gifted Carlisle. Her thoughts don't even register a tenth of the normal amount of pain. Can I ask why you see shadows?"

I scowled, I was really getting tired of him picking through my memories. "Yes, you may, but I'd appreciate it if you kept your ' _gift'_ to yourself. As for the shadows…. Uh, I can see peoples'…essences. At least that's what I call them. I'm able to tell the intentions of people and the balance of their most basic presence. If they're innately evil people I can see it. It's like a thick black and gray smoke that surrounds them. It almost cloaks them if they're really monsters. That's why I didn't run when I saw you coming. None of you had the shadows surrounding you. The wolves don't have shadows now, but when they were chasing us at first it rolled off of them in waves."

"As a human she was always very good at reading people. I think now it's just manifested itself fully." He looked up at me directly now, "Will you come down from there? We'd like to ask you more questions, if that's alright."

I sighed. "The wolves?"

He looked at the black wolf, ' _At least he's out of my head.'_

"Sam says if you have no intention to hurt the girl they won't harm you." The other wolves growled at this.

'Sam' growled and they all subsided.

' _Huh, he must be the Alpha.'_ I thought to myself.

"Alright, we're coming down." I said. "I looked at my friend and she nodded.

"Do it Haylee, it's now or never."

I nodded at her. Steadying myself with a deep breath, I jumped.


	4. Chapter 4

We landed on the ground, gracefully. I straightened from my crouch, putting my human back on her feet, holding onto her arm as she regained her balance.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, looking at the group before me.

"Well firstly, what is your name?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm Haylee." I said, allowing a small smile to grace my features. He seemed pretty nice, well, as far as vampires went, so I felt obligated to be friendly.

"And your name?" He questioned my human companion.

"I'm Carolina." She responded, nodding her head toward him in greeting.

"How old are you both?" Carlisle said.

"I'll be nineteen in November." Carolina said.

"And I'll be nineteen this August." I added. He hummed in response. Deliberating shortly before he continued his line of questioning.

"How long have you been a vampire?"

"Uh, well…. Let's see what day is today?" I asked, if not a bit sassily.

"The 28th of May," he replied, politely. "It's a Saturday."

I looked at my companion. "So we arrived in Port Angeles on Tuesday, so, like, a week and a half?"

We both nodded, agreeing on my assessment.

"You were in Port Angeles?"

"Yes." I said.

"And you were human when you arrived?"

"Yeah, we both were. We were on a road trip, trying to see the country before we went off to college. You know, like one last, big adventure."

"So you were bitten on Tuesday, transformed over the next two to three days, and took this human on the run with you?"

"Yep. That's as good a summary as any." I replied.

"Amazing." He said. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

In the short span we had been talking he had said something was 'amazing' or 'incredible' about ten times already. This Carlisle seemed to be 'amazed' by a lot of things. Maybe he was a newborn too. He didn't seem to know much about being a vampire either.

Edward snickered. "Carlisle's not a newborn. We just haven't met anyone like you."

' _Stop looking through my head, pretty-boy.'_ I all but growled at him in my mind.

"Sorry." He said.

' _You don't look sorry at all, you little shit.'_ I thought.

He scowled at me. ' _Yeah, you're really sorry.'_ I thought, hurling the words at him. ' _That's why you keep reading my mind.'_

He rolled his eyes.

"You mentioned a man earlier, when you arrived. What were you saying about him?" Carlisle said, interrupting me and what's-his-face's mental sparring.

"He was a vampire, I guess." I started. "Care and I didn't arrive in Port Angeles until around 7 and we had been travelling all day. We checked into the hotel and that's when I first saw him. He rode the elevator up with us and that's when I noticed the mist around him. It was overpowering, I'd never seen anything like it before. It really gave me the creeps. When I was human, I mostly just saw flashes of a person's true nature upon meeting them. Like an aura. It would just be when I shook their hand or had contact with them. But this guy… I didn't even need to touch him to see he was a monster. It was like the evil just broadcasted itself." I shivered, remembering how uncomfortable I had been.

Composing myself, I continued on with the story, "We went out to grab some dinner downtown after we put our luggage in the room, did a little shopping in some of the stores as well. We ended up going to this little hole-in-the-wall pub and ate there. That's when I saw him the second time. I probably wouldn't have noticed him if the mist wasn't so strong. He was in this little booth in the back of the bar, he was just kind of looking at us; but like I said, I wouldn't have noticed if he was like any normal person. I didn't think much of him being there since the pub was kind of close to the hotel and it was listed on the hotel's 'local menu' brochure. I think we left around 11, but I can't really remember much else after that."

Carlisle turned to Carolina. "Do you remember anything, Carolina?"

"Yeah," she said, "we left the bar and started walking back, but when we were about halfway Haylee told me to get out my pepper spray and get ready to run. She said someone was following us." Carolina shivered, remembering the dread and terror she had felt in that instant. "Whoever the guy was caught up to us so fast, I didn't think it was possible. It was like one second he was a block behind us and the next he was 2 feet in front of us. It was…. inhuman. Hay and I both pepper sprayed him, but it didn't seem to have an effect. Neither did any of our struggling, he was so strong… It was like he was just amused by us trying to fight back." Carolina shook her head in disbelief. "I barely got out a scream before he hit me in the head, Haylee was screaming for me to run right before I passed out." She looked at her friend, who looked fearful as she recalled the memories. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, Hales." She said in a near whisper.

"Care, this isn't your fault. You didn't ask for any of this, if anything it should be me apologizing to you. You must have been terrified when I woke up looking exactly like him, red eyes and all, trying to rip your head off."

They each slung an arm around the other, leaning our heads together; both feeling sorry for our best friend, knowing there was nothing we could do to change what happened.

"Do you remember anything else before your escape?" Carlisle asked.

"I remember we were in some dark, cement basement. It didn't have any windows and there were just a few pieces of furniture. I didn't get to look around much, I was really dizzy and all I remember him saying was, 'I can't wait to see you play.' That's when he bit me. After that…. I couldn't really focus, the pain was too intense."

"I know what happened," Carolina whispered. "You screamed for almost 2 full days. It was horrible to watch, I had no idea what he had done to you. Towards the end of it, he came in the room and gave me a small cut on my neck. Just barely enough to make me bleed. He duct-taped two torches to my hands and untied my arms." She looked at the ground, unable to look at her best friend as she revealed the next part. "Haylee ended up screaming so much her vocal cords ripped. She was choking on her own blood, still trying to scream and… the dude flipped. He hissed and fled the room." Carolina looked back at Carlisle. "Like I said, the guy was insane, he just decided to tape some sticks to my hands and untie my arms. The next day when Haylee had stopped bleeding and screaming so much he came back in and lit the torches. He told me to 'play nicely' then left." She looked to Haylee." After a few more minutes, you stopped screaming and thrashing around and then I couldn't see your chest move anymore." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her best friend, "I thought you died, Hay. Then, suddenly, you ripped off the chains that had been holding you down. You leapt through the air and landed on your feet. Then you came at me. I thought you were possessed."

"I'm so sorry Care." I whispered. "God, you don't know how sorry I am that I wasn't there for you for those three days. You were alone and I was adding on to your pain and fear. I can't say sorry enough."

Carolina shook her head, "There's no need for us to dwell on the past. It wasn't either of our faults, so let's move on."

"What happened after that?" asked Carlisle. "Carolina said you tried to attack her, how did you stop mid-hunt?"

"I don't know how I did." I responded, "I just heard her scream my name and kind of snapped out of it. He left us in there for hours. It was so hard not to think about her blood, but she's my best friend, there was no way I could have hurt her. I guess he got bored of waiting, eventually. The flames on the torches were going out and I was all but glued to the opposite wall. He came in through the door and tried to cut Care again. I think he had been watching us from somewhere the entire time. Like it was some sick game he was playing; guessing which one of us would win. He seemed pretty livid about it, like we had ruined his fun or something. I don't know. I think he had a gift-thing, because when we were in the room I couldn't move, even when I tried. It was so difficult to even twitch a finger, but when he tried to cut Carolina, I guess I had enough of an adrenaline rush to break it. I ended up attacking him and taking Care out of there as fast as I could. We just kept running until we got here and you stopped us."

"And did you burn the remains?" Carlisle asked.

"No but I ripped off his damn leg. Don't tell me you can survive that." I was met with silence. "That—that's impossible, you'd bleed out." I was looking into their somber faces, panic quickly growing within me.

"Unfortunately, that isn't the case with vampires." Said Carlisle, gravely. "Limbs can be reattached."

"So what you're saying is that psycho is still out there?!" I all but screamed. I thought about his face, the maniacal grin he wore when he was about to do something horrid. "Oh my God. What if he finds us?" I asked, terror seizing me.

"Wait, Haylee." Said Edward. "Can you show me his face, again?" Edward asked.

I would really appreciate it if he would stay out of my head. Now was not the time.

"Please," he tacked on.

I thought of the man's face again.

"Carlisle, it's—we know him." Edward said, incredulously.


	5. Chapter 5

Carlisle had said he thought it best that we 'talk about things' at the house. So, there I was, staring out the large glass windows overlooking the forest while I awkwardly waited for someone, vampire or werewolf to speak. Most of the wolves had chosen to 'phase' back into their human forms so they could better communicate. Unfortunately, their apparent trust in the Cullens didn't seem all that great, because the tension was palpable. Finally, someone broke it.

"Who was it Edward?" Esme finally asked. I looked up, turning towards the break in the silence.

"Bram," was the only word he uttered. There were gasps among the vampires and Carlisle looked visibly distressed.

"Who's Bram?" I asked.

Carlisle spoke. "Bram is the name of a former Volturi guard member. He was an elite guard, one of the only ones to ever leave. Definitely the only to leave without the Kings' consent. It was centuries ago and the Volturi have taken great liberties to erase all records of him."

"He's everything legends spoke of to incite fear; a monster." Edward said.

"As far as we're concerned all of you leeches are monsters," spat a girl with a dark complexion.

"Leah!" Sam barked. "That's enough." I rolled my eyes.

' _Jeez what a bitch.'_ I thought. ' _What's she have against Carlisle? He seems like such a nice man. Maybe it's the mind-reader.'_ I looked over to Edward. _'Yep, I could see why someone would be aggravated by him.'_

Carlisle held up his hand, "It's fine, Sam. I know this is difficult for everyone, thank you for trusting us enough to phase into your human form. Let's just get back on topic." He sighed. "Bram was in Volterra for a short period of time during my stay with the Volturi. He rose quickly within the guards ranks. He was ruthless in battle, and took a sick pleasure in ripping other vampires apart. Sometimes he would burn them before they were completely dismembered." Carlisle frowned at the memory and I saw lightly colored smoke swirl around him.

' _Compassion_ ,' I thought. ' _He feels sorry for the victims.'_

"That's terrible!" cried a female vampire. She looked sweet, with a heart shaped face and kind eyes.

' _Esme,'_ I thought. ' _The mind-reader called her Esme earlier.'_

Carlisle continued, "I had already left by the time he fell so deeply into madness, but you were right Haylee, he is gifted, and very powerful. The Volturi used him to get information out of the Romanian coven during the vampire wars. Bram had the ability to freeze someone in place. It was very useful for those who would try to flee the kings. His gift would only last for a few seconds, but that was more than enough time for the Volturi to capture them. His power only manifested over time. He is a sadist…He relished in it when other vampires would refuse to give information. Aro, Caius, and Marcus gave him full reign to do whatever was necessary in gathering evidence. He would play with his victims, often pitting them against other members of their coven, making them fight to the death. Whomever would win the battle would be promised safety and freedom, but he oftentimes didn't deliver on his promises. He would torture them with the reminder of what they had done to other members of their coven. He taunted them and always seemed to be able to find the chink in someone's armor. He would continue to push them until they broke mentally. Then he was able to get any information the Volturi needed." Carlisle paused, the shadows of compassion and disgust swirling around him. "If there was a capture of a lone vampire, one not affiliated with any coven, then he would torture them, dismembering and reattaching limbs incorrectly. It was excruciatingly painful for them. He brought out the worst in people. His joy in life was causing chaos. He loved to play members of the Volturi against one another and watch the ensuing turmoil. Eventually, the kings couldn't turn a blind eye to his musings. He was more of a liability than an asset. This was after my stay there, but word had started to spread about the lack of compassion and mercy the Volturi had shown to their kind. The kings were afraid it would cause people to start supporting the Romanians. So, they decided to dismember him and burn the pieces, but when they came for him he used his gift. He had been working on it in privacy, using the prisoners to practice on. Bram was able to freeze the guards for much longer than anyone had expected, minutes. He froze the guards and the kings and fled the castle. He escaped Volterra that night, but not before he had his revenge. Caius and Aro hadn't found their true mates yet, but Marcus's mate Didyme was left unprotected…He burned her alive before he left. There was no way to save her." Carlisle looked down, hurt and anger for his friends, the kings, swirling around him. "This was before their tracker, Demetri, had joined the guard. It made it impossible to find him. The kings sent out guards and allies, but there was no trace. There hasn't been a sign of him for nearly 100 years. The last time he was seen was in Chicago during 1918. It was after I had turned Edward, but he slipped away from us. We notified the Volturi but nothing came of it."

"He did it to tease them, Carlisle." Edward piped in. "I saw it in his mind, he knew you were close with Aro, that you would report him. He couldn't resist taunting them with the knowledge that he is still out there."

I looked around the room, everyone had looks of shock, disgust, or compassion on their face.

"You're telling me this fucking psycho is out there, with all the vamp royalty looking for him, still torturing people and no one has ever gotten close to catching him?" asked the girl, Leah. I agreed with her sentiments.

"There are many places to hide in the world. And as I said, the Volturi kings tried very hard to erase any proof of his existence. It would have been viewed as a weakness that one vampire, who they trusted so completely for so long, was able to incapacitate the entire guard and kill a mate of the kings. It would have placed doubt in the minds of others of our kind. People would have known that the ones we look to, to uphold our laws were easily fooled, the entirety of our justice system taken down by a single vampire, that they themselves had trained. It would have caused chaos, a scramble for power. Usurpers would have tried to attack the Volturi."

' _This is fucked up.'_ I thought. ' _Not only is there a sadistic sociopath on the loose torturing humans and vampires, but the people who are supposed to stop these kinds of things are covering it up. They're hiding him from the rest of the world to save face. This is disgusting.'_

Edward looked at me, "Yes, it is, but even though they've dealt with this situation wrongly in the past, we need to alert the Volturi and the guard."

' _Fuck you, fancy-pants. I told you to keep out of my head.'_ He rolled his eyes. ' _Bastard.'_

"Yes, but we have an even bigger problem." Carlisle stated.

' _Oh, Lort. What the hell now?'_ I thought. I was not good with personal feelings and anything involving serious emotion. I was a bit of a commitment freak. The freak part being that I freaked out when any hint of deep emotions like tragedy and love came to light. My main way of coping was sarcasm and pettiness…oftentimes I used memes to escape my problems. _'Nothing like avoiding your problems by reading someone else's snarky clapbacks.'_ Edward snorted and looked at me, as if silently judging. ' _Well, it's worked out pretty well for me so far, dickfingers. Why don't you read someone else's thoughts you nosy— '_

My mental conversation was cut short when Carlisle continued speaking. "Bram's obsession was getting people to succumb to his games. There were very few vampires able to resist him when I was there, but those who did fueled his sickness. He became obsessed with breaking them, finding what made them fall over the edge. He won't give up on you two. Bram would see this as a challenge, you two, unknowingly, began one of the greatest games he's ever played. The stakes have been raised even higher now that you've come into contact with us. A gifted coven of animal drinkers who have personal ties to the Volturi. He can't stop now; his personality won't allow him to. We need a plan, and Edward's right, we need to alert the kings."

The wolves growled at this revelation. Carlisle spoke to the alpha, "I'm sorry, Sam, but we have to follow our laws. I will try to keep you and your pack removed from the situation."

One of the wolves snorted, "We don't want help from your family, _Cullen_ , as if _we_ need protecting. We aren't afraid to kick some royal leech's ass. Unlike you, we can handle them." Some of the other pack members seemed to agree with him, nodding their heads. Out of my periphs I could see one of the Cullens, ' _Emmett,'_ my brain reminds me, growl and crack his knuckles.

I turned my head to see who had spoken and saw the profile of one of the most gorgeous men I'd ever seen. _'Ugh, total hottie, but shit attitude, dude. He would've been a 10/10 if he hadn't opened his mouth. Curse my weakness for exotic men. *mental sigh* Bummer.'_ Edward snickered, and I rolled my eyes. I figured it was no use to keep telling him to keep his nose out of my business. He obviously didn't take it seriously.

"Paul," asserted Sam, "Keep yourself in check or take it outside. Thank you, Carlisle, but if they come anywhere near here we will be getting involved. It is our job to protect our people."

"Sam, what about the treaty?! You can't just allow a bunch of cold ones around here. They're abominations, murderers!" He shouted.

"Paul!" Sam barked. "Not another word." The Paul guy started shaking, getting more agitated with the direction of the conversation. I turned my back to them, looking out the large wall of windows, thinking about this entire situation as the bickering continued in the background.

' _God, what a hot-head. Getting all pissed off because the boss-man doesn't always take his side._ ' I thought to myself. _'Carlisle's being nothing but polite, but this dude has some serious anger-management problems, and a mouth to go along. Totally rude.'_

Paul spoke, nearly yelling in his anger. "We don't need these freaks protecting us, Sam." I stiffened instantly.

' _I am not a freak.'_

"The pack knows how to handle itself." He started shaking in earnest now, I could see his distorted reflection in the window. "Just because some gifted monster leech got herself into trouble, dragging her innocent friend along, doesn't mean we need help from some murderous vamp kings who can't even fight off ONE vampire. Pathetic. I say we go after him and take him out, solve this problem once and for all." He was met with some hell yeah's and nodding from other pack members. I was livid, and Sam had small tremors working through his body. He looked like he was about to reprimand his beta, when I cut in.

I spun on my heel, turning my back to the window and strode toward him. "Excuse me? Just where the FUCK do you get off, you douche canoe!?" I half-shouted. "Don't you _dare_ blame this on me. I was on a road trip with my best friend and you have the audacity to say it was my fault a sociopathic creature, that I didn't even know was REAL, took an interest in us and decided to turn me into some super human?" His entire frame was shaking, but I was far from finished. I stopped a few feet from him and continued. "What the hell is your problem, man? How dare you! Either you have some serious anger problems, to the point that you can't even think in a logical pattern, or you're such an uneducated bigot that your prejudice doesn't allow you to even see past the fact that Carolina and I are VICTIMS of something that we couldn't control! So, which one is it!?" I was screaming by the end of my rant. I stepped closer, feeling my rage swirl around me, I was sure if I looked I would have a shadow of a red so dark it was nearly black around me. "Oh and another thing!" I yelled. "I'm a freak? I'm a monster? Well, at least I don't turn into a goddamn dog who kills people without a second thought."

"Haylee please," Interjected Carlisle. "Calm down."

"No!" I yelled, turning to Carlisle. "This ass hat would've killed me without any remorse if he had his way. He didn't even know me. He just assumed I was some evil being trying to make off with a helpless human." I turned back to look at him, and for the first time, looked him dead in the eyes, "Fuck you and the horse you came in on." I was ready to fight, but his tremors stopped, and he was looking at me like he had never seen me before. I felt a tug in my chest.

' _What the heck?'_ I looked at him again. He still had that dumbstruck look on his face. _'Maybe no one's ever put him in his place before.'_ I gave a mental huff, _'Well it's about time someone did. You're not getting off the hook with me, buddy. I don't care how good looking you are, no one gets to speak to me like that.'_

After a few more seconds I got tired of him looking at me like he had just gotten all the answers to the universe. I was starting to feel self-conscious. "What?" I bit out. "Surprised someone called you on your shit?"

"I…" He said, still with that look of utter and complete gooiness on his face.

"You what?" I asked. Everyone's eyes were trained on us. The tension was palpable.

"Holy shit," Someone said. "Paul did you…?"

I huffed. ' _Act like a total jerk?'_ I finished his mentally, _'Yes.'_ I answered.

I began to get impatient, "You what?" I asked, looking at him again. "What do you possibly have to say for yourself? Or maybe you'd like to insult us some more?"

He looked upset, ' _Oh what so now he's embarrassed I called him out? Maybe he was gonna cry. That'd be interesting, but God I hoped not. I hated it when people cried, even when they deserved a wakeup call.'_ Edward seemed to be trying very hard to hold himself together.

He looked at me, unable to contain his smile. "This is great. I've never seen fate this absolutely twisted before. You're perfect for each other."

Paul's look changed to panic, "NO!" He yelled, startling everyone. "It's not supposed to be like this. Not with one of them!" I could hear his heart rate increase and his breathing became erratic.

Now I was confused. ' _Perfect for each other? Are you insane? And what the hell is he yelling about again. What's not supposed to be like this?'_

"Okay what is going on?" I asked. "I don't understand what any of you are talking about." I looked at Paul, "And don't think your little drama act will get you off the hook. You owe Carolina and me an apology, you ass."

He looked stricken, and the other wolves began to chuckle. Soon they were howling with laughter.

"Nice going, Paul!" One guffawed.

"Oh, man I can't believe this!"

"This is twisted!" Said Leah. She seemed torn between laughter and disgust. "Oh, man this is fucking hilarious." Each wolf added in their own comments either to Paul or one another. They couldn't seem to contain their disgusted humor. _'What. Is. Going. On? These people are insane. Do they think I'm fricking joking?'_ I saw no humor at all in the situation.

"Enough!" Ordered Sam, raising his voice to be heard over all the commotion.

"No, no, no, no…" Paul kept repeating, he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Paul," Sam said, "You'll have to accept it, she is your imprint."

"The fuck she is!" Paul yelled. His eyes were wild and he looked like a cornered animal, desperate. "This is unnatural, it's her fault!" He pointed at me. "This isn't true she must've done something!"

' _What the hell was he blaming me for? I didn't do anything.'_

Edward started snickering, "You're his mate, Haylee."

I was confused. "What are you talking about? I am not having sex with him!" ' _Were these people hallucinating? I'd never met him before in my life. The fuck I'd be mating with anyone. And who the hell says mating anyway? That's super weird.'_

Edward and the pack burst into laughter again, even some of the vampires couldn't contain their mirth. The large vampire, Emmett was his name, doubled over, with many of the other vampires trying to hide their smiles, even Carlisle.

"That isn't quite what he meant, Haylee." Said Carlisle, looking down. He was doing a shitty job of containing his amusement, a small smile playing around his lips and his voice trembling with contained laughter. "I think you and Paul need to discuss your situation. The pack will be able to better explain than I can."

With this, everyone seemed to reign in their laughter. With only the occasional smirk leftover. I looked to Sam. "Explain." I said. "Now."

Sam looked to Paul who was looking at me in what looked like awed anger and…was that fear? He looked at Sam and shook his head, frowning. Sam sighed. "As you have seen we are a pack of shapeshifters. The legends say our people originally descended from wolves, shifting to protect our people from the cold ones, passing this trait down through bloodlines. It is a dormant gift, only activated with the presence of the cold ones. When a wolf transforms he," he glanced at Leah, "or she becomes frozen at that age. We begin aging again once we stop shifting regularly, which many of us choose to do once we find our imprints. An imprint is a way for our wolf to recognize our perfect match. They're everything to us, and once we see her, she is the only thing tethering us to this earth. She balances all our traits. She is our seamless match, mind, body, and soul. You fit together like puzzle pieces, and the bond between you is impossible to resist. We would be anything she—"

"—or he," someone piped in.

Sam frowned and continued. "Yes, anything he or she needs; a brother, a friend, a lover, anything. A wolf's imprint is the most sacred thing to him," he looked to Leah again, "or her. We would do anything to ensure their happiness."

I had a sinking feeling. "And why do I need to know all this?"

Sam continued. "When we look into our imprints eyes, the bond is instantaneous."

' _The tug I felt. Oh, shit.'_ I jumped away, "NO! Stop right there, I don't want to hear anymore!" I looked to Paul, my anxiety rising. "Tell me you didn't."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello peeps. Yes, I know, I am a piece of trash. I haven't updated in forever but this last year has been hectic. Please forgive me. I hope to start getting back to my writing and continuing this story. However, my updates may be irregular so dig deep and find some patience. I love it when you guys leave me messages and reviews. Let me know what you think! ~D**

Paul met my eyes, swallowing hard. "I didn't ask for this either." Anger was warring in his eyes with another emotion I couldn't determine. "Look…" he began stepping forward.

"Stop!" I held out my hand. "Take it back. Reverse it!" I was panicking and I knew it. It registered in the back of my mind that he couldn't control this either. He was just as much a victim as I was, but I was quickly losing my rationality. I glanced at Sam. "I did not sign up for this." I said, looking back to Paul. "You expect me to believe that I'm your soulmate after you just spent the better part of the day trying to kill me and insulting me, insinuating this entire situation was _my_ fault?" I was getting louder, backing away from them all. I felt trapped. "I refuse. No way! There is no way that I'm your mate. You're mistaken. You absolutely did NOT imprint on me." Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. I could feel the twinge in my chest as I denied it. I saw him cringe at my words, he could probably feel it too.

' _Oh mother of Zeus's man tits, there is no way I'm that idiot's soul mate. No, no, wait. Sam said we're supposed to be equals in everything. I was third in my graduating class, there's no way this fuckwit is my equal. He can't even make a rational argument. He doesn't even like me! We have nothing in common. He's technically a wolf. That's gotta be illegal, right?'_

My thoughts continued to spiral out of control as Edward snorted, I glared at him. _'I will straight up shank you. This is not funny at all. It's sick.'_ His grin grew wider.

"It isn't a joke, Haylee. He's telling the truth. I know you can feel the pull." Said Sam.

"No. No I cannot. It's probably heartburn or… indigestion."

All the vampires tried to stifle their chuckles. "Haylee," said Carlisle, "vampires can't get heartburn and as you haven't given into your thirst it's highly unlikely to be…indigestion."

"Well it fucking is!" I half-yelled. I looked at Paul, he had so many emotions swirling in his eyes when they met mine.

' _He has beautiful eyes the color of chocolate. And…he looks so sad, like a kicked puppy.'_ I thought. _'I wish I could make him feel better—Wait, no, stupid stupid stupid. He's the enemy. Isn't he?'_

I snapped out of my musings when he started to take a step toward me. "NO!" I yelled. And I bolted toward the door. Everyone was too shocked at first to move.

"Grab her!" I heard one of the wolves yell, but I was already out the door.

"Haylee, stop!" I heard Carolina scream after me. "Please it'll be okay!"

But I didn't care. No. This wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. None of this should happen like it had. _'I should have never left home.'_ I thought. Ever since I had my life had been going from one fucked up thing to another.

I kept running, I had no clue where I was going, but I knew I just needed to get away. It wouldn't be the first time I had run away…

The sky was beginning to lighten. _'Is it really sunrise?'_ I thought as I opened my eyes fully. ' _Must be…I can't believe I was out all night. I'm not even tired. Weird. Maybe it was some other new vampire thing. Yippee, more things I don't know about my body.'_ I watched as the horizon slowly began to pinken, with lighter shades of blue beginning to appear. The sun was just starting to show its rays over the landscape while stars were still visible in the sky. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. My new vampire sight made it feel like I was experiencing everything for the first time again. _'Well at least there's one positive that's come from this.'_

Learning about everything yesterday was too much. I felt so overwhelmed and couldn't handle it anymore. I had to get away before I broke down in front of everyone; showing weakness in front of people was a big no-no for me. Not only did it make me feel like I wasn't in control, it made things painfully awkward.

"Everyone always trying to console you and rub your back…Say stupid generic shit like they're a walking Hallmark card. 'Everything has a way of turning out okay in the end.' 'Some things happen for a reason.' Stupid." I muttered to myself.

If there was one thing I hated, it was being out of control. Most people wouldn't assume so with my laidback nature, but it was important to me. I never got blackout drunk at parties in high school, usually I just drank enough to get a good buzz. However, I always kept my wits about me, and never let someone else make my decisions. So, yesterday when I felt like my life was spiraling, I ran.

I continued for what seemed like forever, blurring past everything. At first, I had heard howls and yelling behind me, but as I pushed myself further and further they grew fainter. ' _Now there's nothing at all.'_ I thought as I rubbed my chest. The twinges I had felt before gradually became more persistent until now it was just a constant, painful ache. ' _Stupid imprinting.'_ I growled mentally. ' _Really fucking hurts.'_

As the sun's rays started reaching out to the land before me, gently spreading its warmth I continued to contemplate what my options were. I decided to make a list aloud. I sighed.

"Okay, Haylee. Time to think, staring into the sky and moping won't do anything. Alrighty…first thing, I am a vampire. Second thing, I have a mate slash imprint. Third, things one and two are nonnegotiable and apparently unchangeable. Four, said imprint seems to be an idiot. Five, I have no food and no water. Six, I left Carolina. Seven, I'm a horrible friend for leaving Carolina. Eight, there is a sociopath out in the world looking for me and my best friend. Nine, I am alone. Ten…" I trailed off as I felt despair start to creep in. I sank my head onto my knees. "What am I going to do?" I took a deep breath through my nose, I could pick out individual smells now. Hmm… I could smell the dirt and sand, the dry air, rocks and the growing vegetation around me.

' _I wonder where I am. Certainly not in Washington.'_

As I breathed in deeply, I could even detect the faint scent of Carolina on my clothes from when I carried her yesterday. My throat flared, and my eyes opened wide. "Shit. Ten, I have no idea how to feed or be a vampire." I looked up at the now much lighter sky and groaned. I was going to have to go back, not only for Car but because I was clueless. I may hate being out of control, but I was still man enough to admit when I needed help. ' _Ugh this is gonna suck.'_ Deep chocolate-brown eyes filled my head. I pushed them out of my mind, but not before thinking, ' _I'm so screwed.'_

The sun had finally made its way over the horizon and its rays reached my spot on the cliff. It's light hit my hands and legs which immediately started sparkling like they were made of the most beautiful diamonds. "Woah," I breathed. It was breathtaking. _I_ was breathtaking. Suddenly my ears perked up as I heard something start to approach. I leapt up quickly and crouched. Whatever it was was coming fast. I started to feel panic bubble inside me. ' _Bram._ ' I thought. ' _Well I'm not going down without a fight.'_ Suddenly from the vegetation I heard my name.

"Haylee? Haylee it's me, Edward."

' _Christ on a cracker. What the hell is this guy's problem? Does he want an ass beating?'_

His voice came closer and closer and he finally stepped out of the rough brush. "I'm sorry if I alarmed you, but we had to find you. It's daylight and although you're far from civilization, we can't risk any rogue hikers seeing you."

I nodded in understanding and rose from my crouch. "Why are you even here? Why couldn't you send someone else? Like Carlisle, he seemed nice."

Edward gave a crooked grin, "I'm the fastest. I was the only one able to keep up with your scent. It started raining right after you disappeared, it was nearly impossible to find your scent."

I rolled my eyes. ' _Cocky bastard.'_ I thought. "So how did you find me? Just because you're fast doesn't mean your nose works better too."

His grin vanished. "Paul could feel the pull, he led the way while I followed. I was able to pick up on your scent again after we got out of the storm and trail you here." I tensed.

"Paul's on his way here? No, no, no. I—I don't want to speak with him." I started backing up.

"You can't just run away forever, Haylee. You know that. You need to come to terms with this and come back to Forks, so we can deal with Bram and training you as a newborn. You said so yourself, you don't know what you're doing."

"No," I said. "I'm only eighteen! I'm not ready to have a soulmate! Or deal with vampire kings and maniac bodyguards. Carolina and I were supposed to go to college in the fall and date tons of different guys. You know? Test the waters, sow my wild oats, party and make mistakes!" My voice rose with each thing I listed off. "Now I can't do that. I can't just go off to college and be a vampire. I sparkle for god's sake. What the hell am I supposed to tell people if they ask me? 'Oh yeah I had an accident with a glitter bomb.' 'Oh, no don't worry, I'm a good vampire, I haven't eaten anyone yet.' What the hell?" I got angrier and angrier as I continued. "Why the FUCK did he have to choose me? I had my entire life ahead of me! I had a scholarship I worked my ass off for, and I was going to do great things! I was going to be free and start fresh for once in my fucking life!" I didn't realize I was sobbing until I felt a warm pair of arms wrap around me hesitantly.

"You're going to be fine." A deep voice rumbled. I took a deep breath and looked up into those beautiful chocolate eyes I had been thinking about earlier. "We need to talk."

' _Oh fuck.'_


End file.
